B.C., three northwest U.S. states join forces on trade, addiction, environment

British Columbia Premier John Horgan and his counterparts in Oregon, Washington and California are adding the overdose crisis and trade to the list of issues considered vital to the four jurisdictions.

Horgan, the governors of Oregon and Washington, as well as officials representing the governor of California have gathered in Vancouver to mark the 10th anniversary of the Pacific Coast Collaborative.

The forum was created in 2008 to encourage joint action on matters like climate change and the environment but today’s gathering also confronted what Washington Gov. Jay Inslee calls the ”scourge of substance-use disorders.”

A news release from the premier’s office says the jurisdictions are committed to ending the stigma and discrimination associated with addiction and substance-use disorders.

It says B.C. and the governors have also agreed to further strengthen cross-border trade relationships.

Horgan says his U.S. counterparts understand the urgent need to protect a shared environment and to slow climate change across a region that is home to 55 million people and represents the world’s fifth-largest economy.